2012, Château Latour, PAUILLAC

90.2 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.6 % Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot.

On the nose, this Château Latour is pure with a round and elegant fruitiness. The mouth is silky with great density and a vibrant fruit. The tannins are meltingly soft. Château note.

The 2012 Latour…wine of the vintage? It has to be a serious contender. In this blind taste-off between the five First Growths, its quality shines through. With exceptional delineation on the nose, it just oozes class with precise black fruit, crushed stone, mint and light sous-bois. The palate is perfectly balanced with a fine line of acidity, as precise as a Swiss watch, gently building to a finish that delivers the structure one expects from a Latour. Sheer class. Tasted blind in Bordeaux. Drink 2024-2051.
97 Neal Martin, Vinous.

Re-release of the 2012 vintage, the first one that came off the Place de Bordeaux, and it is moving into its drinking window at 14 years old, although as ever with Latour there is no rush to drink this, and the wine seems in a similar place to my last tasting in 2022. Plenty of Pauillac typicity in terms of blackcurrant and bilberry fruit shot through with mint leaf and cedar, given depth and character with fennel, liquorice, crayon, crushed rocks, graphite. Muscular tannins but with enough light in between to make this a relatively early-drinking Latour.
97 Jane Anson.

The 2012 Latour slowly emerges with notions of preserved Morello cherries, baked blackcurrants and blackberry compote, giving way to nuances of pencil shavings and unsmoked cigars. This is a more restrained, relatively elegant vintage of Latour that struts its superior terroir and behind-the-scenes savoir faire with impressive panache. It is drinking nicely now with suitably rounded-off, approachable tannins, and the tertiary characters are just beginning to bring some more cerebral elements into the compote of temptingly primary black fruits. But, if you’re looking to drink it in full, flamboyant swing, give it another 5-10 years in bottle and drink it over the next 20-25 years+.
96+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate.